Opinion | We need more trains, not more lanes - The Washington Post

The Feb. 27 Local Opinions essay “Maryland can’t wait for traffic relief” said Maryland desperately needed to add more lanes to Interstates 270 and 495 because that is the only possible way to relieve traffic congestion and quoted an environmental-impact statement that said the added lanes would reduce delays by 18 percent and 32 percent in the morning and evening peak periods, respectively. The essay also said those who oppose the lane additions are making “wild and nonsensical claims about the project.”

When I moved here in 1979, I-270 was only two to three lanes in each direction. It got jampacked during commute times, so lanes were added. Within a few years, it got jampacked again, so more lanes were added. Again, that helped only for a few years. Obviously, continuing to add lanes is not the solution.

Studies also claimed that the Intercounty Connector would take enough cars off the Beltway to relieve the congestion between Silver Spring and Bethesda. After it was completed, I saw the same red taillights and congestion.

Adding lanes won’t work if more houses and apartments are built to house people who will end up driving on I-270 and the Beltway without increasing access to public transportation. The true solution to the traffic problem is to get people onto trains and buses — and continue working from home, which has reduced the number of commuters no matter what form of transportation they were taking before the pandemic.

Melissa Yorks, Gaithersburg

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